An Egyptian official denied in Tehran on Saturday an alleged government decision banning the Iranian pavilion from participating in the Cairo International Book Fair, reported Iran’s news agency (IRNA).

Mohammad Rifah, head of Egypt's Interest Section in Tehran, said in an interview with IRNA that the Iranian publishers had not received the required visas for entering Egypt and, therefore, the Iranian pavilion was temporarily closed in the Egyptian book exhibition.

"The Iranian pavilion at the Cairo International Book Fair was delayed in opening, but it is currently active," he added.

An Iranian morning daily wrote on Saturday that Egypt's Interest Section in Tehran had not issued entry visas to the Iranian publishers desiring to participate in the Cairo book fair, said the agency.

Iran and Egypt broke off ties after the Iranian 1979 Islamic Revolution when Tehran protested to the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat's signing of the Camp David peace treaty with Israel, as well as the granting of a safe haven to the Iranian deposed monarch Mohammadreza Pahlavi who later died in Cairo.

But relations have been improving lately. Two weeks ago Iranian President Mohammad Khatami called for further expansion of ties between Iran and Egypt.

In June, he talked with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak, the first by the